The Portland Journey Begins!

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for your patience the last two months, while Jordan and I relocated, reestablished ourselves and settled on solid ground.

It's been a whirlwind, to say the least. Over the last six weeks I have:

~Moved all my belongings into storage

~Interviewed for a new job

~Auditioned for an internship with Third Rail Repertory Theater (and got it!)

~Said goodbye to Southern Oregon!

~Gone to Texas for a week (to visit Jordan's extended family)

~Started a new job the day we got back from Texas

~Hunted for an apartment in a seller's market (Portland is at 98% capacity!)

~FOUND ONE!

~Moved our stuff out of storage

~Moved in!

And in the midst of all this I have used every spare moment to make Enso connections, find space for our show, and begin putting the pieces together for an education program. So here is how that's been going: AWESOME.

I sent out a big email to some Portland theater folks to see if anyone was willing to chat with me over coffee. I ended up meeting with 5 or 6 different people, all of whom were eager to help and provided me with lots of useful information about the theater community. 

I've contacted just about every high school and college in the Portland/Beaverton area, offering our free Jane Austen workshops and asking if we might be able to rent space. I've also contacted a number of theaters--in fact, I am currently in conversation with the Artists' Repertory Theatre (considered by some to be the second-largest theater in Portland) to rent their space.

Dennis Foster, co-founder of the Oregon Conservatory of Performing Arts (where I taught acting in Southern Oregon) has given me an acting instructor position with his group, and has been absolutely stellar in his support for Enso and our project. He is connecting me with many valuable people in the area and helping to boost my reputation so that we can slowly build support for an Enso Theatre Education program.

Our new apartment is half-furnished and filled with unpacked boxes, but it is TOTALLY WORTH IT, to be able to spend time creating this beautiful thing. In fact, I'm currently writing you whilst sitting on my floor with our computer in front of me, also on the floor. :)

I also wanted to share with you where some of the money is going. Because of your spectacular support, I was actually able to pay four of the behind-the-scenes people who were absolutely critical to the success of this Kickstarter: Arden Kilzer created our poster for the staged reading, Autumn Harrison edited two of our promotional videos, Garrett Lushingtonmanaged our website, and Logan Anderson, as you know, is our phenomenal musician. THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU GUYS for helping me make this happen!

Quick Tangent: Logan Anderson has actually launched his own Kickstarter, to assist the making of his second album "The Company" (some of you will be receiving it as part of your reward for donating to this campaign!). I've heard a few of the songs on this album and it is awesome. Plus, it's always fun to guess what kind of instrument Logan is using, because he's used everything from tea cups to plastic bags. Check out his Kickstarter here, listen to the songs in his video and see if you can guess the instruments he uses: http://kck.st/1GK5Kkb

Part of the money will also help us to pay a marketing student to manage all our social media pages, and to connect us with places to hang flyers, etc, as we prepare for the show. So if anyone knows a Portland college student studying marketing, looking for a little extra cash, but mostly for resume experience, please let us know!

And last but not least, I've begun yet another editing process with the script...seeing the staged reading come together was incredibly helpful in allowing me to see what works and what doesn't. I'm very excited about some of the new changes being made. :)

Thank you so much everyone for your love and support! Keep a watchful eye, because as soon as we solidify a space, we will be in full-tilt advertise and spread-the-love mode.

All the best,

Caitlin